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Vaccinated Vs. Unvaccinated:<br />
A Large Study into the<br />
MMR-Autism Link<br />
30 TIME May 31, 2017<br />
TWritten By: Dr. Bryan King<br />
his 2015 study is an an analysis<br />
conducted on the health records<br />
of 95,727 children was carried<br />
out using information from the Optum<br />
Research Database. The researchers<br />
were looking into whether or not the<br />
measles-mumps-rubella vaccination was<br />
a cause of autism in children. Of the<br />
“95,727 records that were looked into,<br />
more than 15,000 remained unvaccinated<br />
at the age of 2, and more than 8,000<br />
still remained unvaccinated by the age of<br />
5” (Wright para 2). The health records<br />
were of children born between the years<br />
of 2001 and 2012, and were 5 years<br />
or younger, and have an older sibling.<br />
“More than 2,000 of the children in the<br />
study were considered to be at a higher<br />
risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD)<br />
because they had an older sibling with<br />
the disorder” (Wright para 2). Researchers<br />
found that there was no link between<br />
receiving the MMR vaccine and a higher<br />
chance of getting ASD, and “the same<br />
was true for those who were considered<br />
a high risk for the disorder because of<br />
older family members with it” (Wright<br />
para 1). Overall, the study found that<br />
994 of the children, or 1% within the<br />
study were diagnosed with ASD in the<br />
followup. Of the 95,727 children within<br />
the study, 1,929 had an older sibling<br />
with ASD, only 134 developed the autism<br />
disorder, or 7%” (Wright para 9).<br />
These results are similar to what has<br />
been found in studies conducted earlier<br />
which looked at the suspected MMR-autism<br />
link. Concerns sparked by Andrew<br />
Wakefield’s study are the likely explanation<br />
of the lower vaccination rates of<br />
MMR in families that have an older child<br />
with ASD. “It has been found that 84%<br />
of 2 year olds who did not have an older<br />
sibling with the disorder received the<br />
MMR vaccination, and the numbers go<br />
up to 92% by the age of 5 years. However,<br />
the vaccination rates were 73% at<br />
2 years old, and 86% at 5 years old in<br />
children who did have siblings with ASD”<br />
(Wright para 6).<br />
Fig 30:“Vaccinating Your Baby: When and Where.” The Pulse. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May<br />
2017.
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